1937 Cord Model 812 Westchester Sedan

1937 Cord

This is a 1937 Cord 812 Westchester sedan. The Westchester model was the anchor of the Cord Automobile Company's product line unveiled at the 1935 New York Auto Show. This particular specimen is recently out of nearly 40 years of storage and will make someone a fine restoration project.

Arguably, the Cord sedans ride better and are more comfortable than their two-door convertible brethren. The Westchester was the pick of even a famous hot rod builder in South San Francisco when designing and building a original bodied Cord with a late model Corvette driveline, fully independent front and rear suspensio, Porsche Tiptronic transmission, front wheel drive masterpiece at a build cost of upwards of $1 million dollars. The Westchester sedan was also the favorite pick and personal driving choice of the late Josh Malks, noted author and Automobile historian. Mr. Malk's Westchester, "Moon Shadow" can be seen on the main exhibit floor of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana.This particular Cord 810 Westchester is a very complete automobile. The car appears to have never been disassembled and has it'snumbers matching original drivetrain and running gear included.While the factory broadcloth interior will need to be reupholstered, the original seats and door panels are still intact and will serve as excellent patterns. All interior garnish moldings have been stripped and are in place in primer. Seats have been fitted with excellent black tweed seat covers which can be used temporarily to protect the original upholstery underneath or as very attractive covers indefinitely. Parts needing to be replaced would be limited to items that would be replaced as a part of any restoration such as Gaskets, seals, fabric, paint, etc.; all of the impossible to find parts are present. If adding a factory stock Cord to your collection has been your desire, then this is that car. Keep in mind, that returning a Cord back to this originality from a rear wheel drive conversion would be economically infeasible....The first difficult and incredibly tedious steps of body and paint preparation have been completed. The arduous task of disassembly and cleaning all of the exterior and interior surfaces have been done. The sedan's exterior wasENTIRELYstripped using a cold water and crushed glass blasting method. This process leaves the steel pristinely clean without any of the damage associated with heat from sand blasting or conventional grinding. This body is absolutely free of any bondo or other body fillers whatsoever.The clean steel was treated with a phosphoric acid rich bath to clean any imperceptible rust or corrosion followed by a thorough soda neutralization then followed by DA sanding to an overall P80 3M Gold finish. The next step was to completely prime the exterior surfaces with a high quality white epoxy primer to protect the surface from any sort of further corrosion occurring during the rest of the work being done. The overall body of the car is in good condition but does have some rust on the rocker panels and some small areas on the trunk floor as well as the a few spots on the main cabin floor. The complete front floor section was expertly refabricated including the floor cross channel to Cord factory standards. This includes all of the proper factory corrugations and has already been expertly installed. The floors were then shot in a modern formulation red lead primer to once again protect it from moisture. Individual components like the carburetor, starter, generator, fuel pump, water pump, fan, distributor, exhaust manifolds, etc. have been meticulously cleaned, painted and are ready for whatever testing and updating is necessary as a part of your restoration. There is some rust in other areas of the car but, they are sites where simple metal repairs can be done by a hobbyist or an average qualified body man. We have included a repair panel to be installed on the firewall, another common site where cutting it is easier than removing the driveline when replacing the timing chain. At some point in the cars life, dual exhaust were added and the lower valance below the trunk. This area can either be repaired or completely replaced with a new panel that is available through several vendors all reasonably priced. . All four doors, which are notoriously the site of rust have all been dissembled, cleaned, repaired and expertly metal finished ready for paint preparation. The issue with sedan doors occurs due to the design flaw of omitting proper drains for water collected during everyday use, even in the driest climates. The fit of the suicide doors are particularly difficult even for an experienced metal artisan due to their complicated shape and curves. This is why I decided to have the work done here so that the new buyer would not have the quest to get them done properly in their locale. The front fenders on Cords, also a notorious area of some really bad bodywork over the last eight decades, have also been repaired to further simplify your restoration. The driveline is complete including the original Cord factory EE-15 carb, air cleaner, generator, starter, fan and water pump, radiator, exhaust manifolds, Startix ignition and distributor, correct square fill plug master cylinder, brakes, front and rear shocks... To name just a few.Once again, to make things even easier, I am including many of the bearings sets to properly rebuild the Cord's front suspension. Over the years, I've accumulated many of these parts and will make up a package and general instructions for the new buyer. The front windshields, all four side windows and the two rear windows have all been replaced with brand new properly unmarked PPG safety plate laminate glass exactly as were supplied by the factory. The complete dash is in excellent condition and has all of the proper instrumentation including the impossible to find radio, control head and factory underbody antenna. Also in place are the windshield wiper motors as well as rear view mirror, interior, exterior door handles, locking glove box doors, an excellent and proper steering wheel, horn ring and cap. Hideaway headlight mechanisms are all there as is the near to impossible to find headlight cables and crank actuators. The engine and transmission will require rebuilding. The engine block,still is bored at factory standard, is numbers matching (see pic) and in excellent condition. I have included a cylinder picture to show how nice they are. Unlike so many other Of these cars, the block sides have never been broken or repaired due to frost damage which was extremely common with the Cord V8. A clean set of original heads with anNOS set of Champion H10 spark plugs, a new set of .030 pistons, sixteen (16) reground valves and an extra camshaft for the rebuild are also included in this sale. There are five proper Cord factory wheels included mounted with brand new, zero mile Blackwall 6.50 x 16 tires.With several Cords in restoration, I just won't have enough time to finish every Cord automobile I fall in love with. There are many people who are also rabid enthusiasts of these fine automobiles. The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club is an incredible organization to become a part of. At the appropriate time, I will introduce you to this group of folks who will become an indispensable part of your restoration process. If you are not currently a member, I will personally pay your initiation and first years membership dues as an added bonus. The classic car hobby is truly a great one. Auburn Cord and Duesenberg's are arguably amongst the finest.

For any questions, please call Richard Blomquist at WhiteGloveCollection 608-780-8229. The Estate wants this car sold!